Nazi Foreign Policy

Redressing

Versailles

and beyond

1933 / 1934Initial Foreign Policy Aims

Priority 1) Avoid war until Germany is fully prepared Priority 2) Stress continuity

– Von Neurath - Nationalist Foreign Minister Priority 3) Avoid Multilateral Pacts or Agreements

– Lessons from outbreak of World War One Priority 4) Avoid being isolated

– Unilateral pacts– Cultivate relations with Britain and Italy

Priority 5) Seek to redress Treaty of Versailles injustices– France, Russia and new buffer countries

1933 / 1934 Which direction is Nazi Germany Travelling?

Withdraws from League of Nations and Disarmament Conference

– Fulfilling election pledges– Manchuria lessons - ineffectiveness towards non-members– Dislikes Multilateral nature of League– Blames France for leaving (not Britain or Italy)

Sign a ten year non-aggression pact with Poland– Suggested reasonable Nazi Foreign Policy aims– Placated Poles– Secures Eastern Border– Breached French Eastern Alliance System (Locarno)– Unilateral - no complicating ties if pact is revoked

1934 A Step too Far

Foiled Anschluss– Austrian Nazis assassinate Chancellor Dolfuss– Invite Nazi Germany to ‘liberate’ Austria– Mussolini sends troops to Brenner Pass

Italian claims on Tyrol region– Hitler backs down and disclaims any responsibility

1935 Challenging VersaillesUnilaterally

Saar Plebiscite– 90% vote to join Germany– Domestic and International Triumph for Hitler

Luftwaffe announced Conscription announced for 750,000 army Britain, France and Italy denounce Germany and threaten

action the next time Germany threatens Status Quo (Stresa Front)

Germany claims rearmament is necessary to protect Europe from the threat of Bolshevism

– Rejects war in speech to Reichstag

1935 Challenging VersaillesBilaterally

Naval Agreement with Britain– German High Fleet will only be 35% of British High Fleet– 45% Submarine ration (becomes 100% in 1938)– Eases British strategic concerns– Cultivating relations with Britain– France Furious– Strains Stresa Front

1935 Breaking the Stresa FrontMussolini’s Abyssinian Adventure

Italian Colonial Ambitions Britain’s demand for Sanctions against Mussolini

– Infuriates Mussolini– Ineffectively applied

Destroys credibility of League of nations Lack of Collective responsibility for their application

– Deflects attention from German actions in Europe– Mussolini driven to Hitler

1936 Pushing at an Open Door

Rhineland Remilitarisation– Over rules German High Command– 14,000 troops– Orders– No French challenge– Emboldens Hitler– Page 384– Plebiscite result

99%

1936 The Anti-Bolshevik CrusadeThe Spanish Civil War

Luftwaffe’s Role– Franco– Condor Legion– Experimental bombing

Cements relationship with Mussolini Britain and France Neutral

– World War spark?

1936/37Speeding up Preparations for War

Four Year Plan Axis and Anti-Comintern Pact

– Italy, Germany and Japan Ribbentrop to London

– To secure alliance with Britain Hossbach Conference

– Prepare for war in 1940s

1938Anschluss

Economic arguments of Anschluss Role of Austrian Nazis Intimidation of Chancellor Schuschnig

– Plebiscite called– Forced resignation of Schusching– Goering chooses new government– Hitler invades anyway

Combined Plebiscite (Germany and Austria)– 99%

British recognition of enlarged Germany P 386

1938 Czechoslovakia - The Hors D’oeuvres

Emboldened by Austrian Triumph “It is my unalterable decision to smash Czechoslovakia by military action in

the near future” Hitler Intense dislike for Slavic ‘Versailles’ nation Nazi Sudeten Party Munich conferences

– Italy, France and Britain (No USSR or Cz)– Negotiated Settlement?– Hitler had to be content with just Sudeten areas

Rich in coal and copper, strong manufacturing base Frontier Defences

German Generals cancel arrest plans USSR cannot rely on West for security

– (Nazi Soviet Pact)

1939 Czechoslovakia - The Main Course

Offers slices of Czechoslovakia to Poles, Hungarians and Romanians Slovaks offered autonomy Czech forces enter Slovakia to crush Nazi inspired unrest Slovakia told to declare independence or be invaded by Hungary Czechs agree to split with Slovakia Bohemia/Moravia annexed by Germans - Slovakian nominal independence

ended next day Hungarians take Ruthenia (Poles - take a slice too) Huge Skoda plant under German control Non-Germans conquered for the first time The West’s patience is exhausted

– Anglo-French guarantee for Poland’s Independence two weeks later. p390